Ian's birth story

Republished from Kathy's blog, Tuesday, June 15th:

Sorry about leaving everyone hanging, but being the mother of a newborn isn't very conducive to long posts, so I had to work on this over several days. Ian is doing well. He has had a few little problems, including jaundice (probably from being born a little bit preterm) and losing a little more weight than normal after birth. But he is getting back on track on both counts---it's just taking a lot of work on our parts, because he has been requiring daily lab tests and dr appts, sleeping on a "bili-blanket," and feedings every two hour around the clock. Hence my not posting sooner!

I went into labor Tuesday morning (June 8th). I had to go to the bathroom as usual around 5 am or so, then when I went back to bed I couldn't fall back asleep. So I started to waddle back to the bathroom to start getting ready for work, and suddenly realized my panties felt somewhat wet. I took off my panties when I got to the bathroom and saw that they were soaked through and pink! I hollered at Clint that I thought my water broke, he jumped up out of bed, we called the hospital, and they said I better come in. We spent a frantic fifteen minutes that felt like an hour gathering all our stuff up, shut up the house and drove to the hospital.

When we got there, they put us in an antepartum room and a nurse tested the fluid and confirmed that, yes, it was amniotic fluid. I wasn't really feeling contractions, but we settled in to wait for the doctor. In the meantime we both called our mothers (in GA and NC), who immediately started packing up and got on the road for VA. About or five hours later, my contractions still hadn't really started; I'd have one or two weak ones in a row, and then they'd taper off. I tried walking the halls, taking a bath, etc., even singing, to try to get things going, but none of it seemed to help, so they had to start me on IV pitocin.

The pitocin got the contractions coming on a more regular basis. Unfortunately, I had "back labor" (baby's face forwards instead of facing the back), so the contractions were very painful. I finally reached "transition"---where strong contractions make the cervix dilate fully in preparation for the baby coming out---and just got stuck there for hours (this phase is supposed to last about 45 minutes). After the first hour, I asked for IV drugs, but all they did was make me groggy without relieving the pain. After two hours, I finally asked for an intrathecal (spinal injection). The doctor had a lot of trouble getting the needle in, in part because my contractions were so hard, but also because at this point I wasn't able to tell my left from my right and so I couldn't tell him where I felt the needle. When he finally did get it in, it helped somewhat.

But then my cervix just wouldn't dilate the last bit. Finally one of the nurses was able to just push it back the rest of the way while I pushed during contractions. The doctor came back to look at me, and said I was fully dilated, but that he didn't think I was going to be able to push the baby out by myself because his position was bad. He decided they were going to have to use suction to get him out. I asked if I would have to have an episiotomy, and he said "probably." He said he was thinking the baby was pretty big.

So, he put got the baby's head hooked up to the suction cup and when my next contraction came they told me to push. I can't describe the pain; I felt like I was being torn apart, and I started screaming my lungs out. When the contraction passed, they told me I couldn't scream like that, because I couldn't push when I was screaming. So I kept trying for a while, then finally I said, "I can't do this! It hurts too much!"

"Then you're going to have to have a C-section," the doctor said.

Clint said, "You have to try a few more times, Honey. I can see the baby's head! He's almost out."

So I gave three more pushes, each time thinking I couldn't go stand it any longer, and on the third push, Ian came out and they put him on my stomach for a minute for me to see. Suddenly all my pain didn't seem to matter. Clint cut the cord, then all too quickly they took Ian away from me, because they were worried about him after the rough time he'd had getting into the world. After a few minutes I asked if he was all right, and they said it looked like it. They told us his weight and height---he was a long skinny little thing, not a strapping ten pounder like I was expecting. I guess the reason my belly had looked so huge was because he was so long and I am so short-waisted that he just had to sort of double up on himself.

Once I was sure Ian was okay, I looked around the delivery room at everyone and said, "That sucked!" I just had no idea it was as going to be so painful. The doctor laughed and told me I'd had a pretty rough labor. He delivered the placenta, and then he said he was going to have to stitch me up. He said I hadn't had to have an episiotomy, but that I had gotten pretty torn up on the inside from the suction. I didn't even feel the stitches, and I think I had a lot because I kept seeing him take those little fishhook needles they use out of the sterile packages. All I could think about was getting to hold Ian again.

We stayed in the hospital for two days then went home. My mom stayed with us for a few days before she had to go back and teach a class, and Clint's mom stayed for a week and a half. Because Ian came so early the baby room was in a shambles and we didn't have a lot of stuff we needed, so in between feedings, diaper changings, and visits to the doctor, we have been making trips to WalMart, ordering stuff online and generally trying to get things organized.

Having a baby is just the coolest thing ever! And we think Ian is just the greatest little guy! He is a really pretty baby---big blue eyes, full lips, lots of dark hair, and a nice complexion in spite of a little bit of jaundice. He also has a mind of his own already; he just seems to want to do everything his own way. He has already turned over on his stomach once, he has a strong grip and can push *hard* with his little legs. He loves to watch people's faces, too. I am breastfeeding, but we are also having to supplement a little with formula, more because he is a little lazy about suckling at certain times of day than for milk supply issues. He gets about 75% breastmilk, which I think is pretty darn good considering I had a radical breast reduction six years ago and wasn't expecting to be able to breastfeed at all. The cool part about the formula is that Clint gets to feed him a little bit, which is a chance for him to bond with the baby in that way, too.

Speaking of which , Clint is soooo cute with the baby! He is the proudest father you ever saw, and little Ian will fall asleep in his arms or lying beside him just as well as he will do for me.

I could say lots more about our little man, but I'm sure I'll be posting so much about him in the days to come that you'll be sick of hearing it, so I'll stop here for now. Hoping to have some pictures up soon.

Presenting...

Ian Thomas McGuire, in his world premiere
Weighs in at 6 lb. 14 oz.
Stands (okay, LAYS) at 22 in.
Born June 8, 2004 at 10:57 pm
Proud papa:   Clint McGuire
Exhausted (after 16 hrs. of labor, can you blame her?)
mama:   Kathy McGuire
Photos and stories to come!!!

A little late night excitement

We had some pregnancy-related (as opposed to kidney-stone-related; I'll let Clint tell *that* story) excitement last night, when I woke up around 3 am screaming in pain. I think it was either a bad Braxton-Hicks contraction or ligament pain, because after I tinkled and had a glass of water it went away after about 20 minutes and I was able to fall back asleep. We had a scary moment, though, when I saw water on the bathroom floor and thought my water had broken---it turned out Clint had been so nervous when he was running to get me a glass of water that he had spilled some of it!

This morning we have noticed that the baby seems to be a little lower than before, so maybe that is what was going on last night. If so, it won't be long now. Hope it's not before next week, since my doctor's out of town this week, and he's the only OB in the county...

More waiting...

Had the last of my every-two-weeks prenatal appointments this morning (was supposed to be Friday, but they had to reschedule). After this I go once a week for the duration.

They didn't do the ultrasound today---the doctor's out of town for a family emergency---just a strep test. The baby's heartbeat continues to be strong, around 152 bpm. My blood pressure is the highest it's ever been---128/80. Yeah, I know lots of people would think that's great, but when your bp is normally 90-100 over 50-60, those numbers are alarming. I talked to the doctor about my swelling and pain and the little bumps I am getting around my eyes. She said she wasn't too worried about the swelling from a health perspective, since my bp isn't above normal and there's no protein in my urine. I just don't know how much longer I am going to be able to get around, though. The pain and all the excess weight (57 pounds, at this point) is keeping me from being very mobile.

Next week the doctor will do the ultrasound and see if the baby is getting into position. He definitely hasn't dropped yet, in fact he's still up high enough that it's giving me some trouble breathing. I hope like crazy he doesn't come late---at this point, I would be very pleased if he was about a week early. :)

I am definitely starting to nest like crazy. We have most of the big items we need and I've decided that the next thing I want to do is concentrate on the baby room decor. I've got some cute shelves I want to paint and hang on the wall, plus some little wooden letters that spell out Ian's name. I'm thinking of getting these little Winnie-the-Pooh pictures, too. I'm also thinking of splurging on the crib bedding we want and some decent bedding for the twin bed in the baby room. The room just doesn't look quite *finished* yet---it doesn't look ready for a baby, and that has me a little panicked, since according to the nurse practitioner, I could go into labor any time now.